The Journey Of A Bill To Becoming A Law

The process of a bill becoming a law is a lengthy one and differs slightly between the US federal government and the New York State government. In both cases, the process begins with a new policy idea, which can come from a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or from citizens and advocacy groups. Once an idea has been agreed upon, it is drafted into a bill. From here, the bill is introduced and assigned a number, before being sent to a committee for review. The committee will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill, before voting on whether to send it back to the House floor. If the bill passes in one body of Congress, it will go through a similar process in the other body. Once both bodies have voted to accept the bill, they must work together to create a single version of the bill, which is then presented to the president. The president can approve the bill and sign it into law, or they can veto it. If the bill is vetoed, Congress can vote to override the veto, and the bill can still become a law.

The bill is drafted

Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of some of the Representatives, it is ready to be introduced. In the US House of Representatives, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper—a special box on the side of the clerk's desk. Only Representatives can introduce bills in the US House of Representatives. When a bill is introduced in the US House of Representatives, a bill clerk assigns it a number that begins with H.R. A reading clerk then reads the bill to all the Representatives, and the Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.

The bill is then assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. Committees are composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. When a bill is in the hands of the committee, it is carefully examined and its chances of passage by the entire Congress are determined. The committee may even choose to hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on the record. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered to be "dead".

After the committee has finished reviewing the bill, it is sent—or reported—to the House floor. Once reported, a bill is ready to be debated by the US House of Representatives. When a bill is debated, Representatives discuss the bill and explain why they agree or disagree with it. Then, a reading clerk reads the bill section by section and the Representatives recommend changes. When all changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on.

The bill is introduced

The bill-making process begins with an idea. A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. The idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by people or citizen groups. Once the bill is drafted, it must be introduced. This is step two of the process.

If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. Once a bill is introduced, it can be found on Congress.gov, the official government website that tracks federal legislation.

The sponsor is the primary Congress member supporting the bill. The other members who support the bill are called co-sponsors. Any member of Congress—either from the Senate or the House of Representatives—can be a sponsor. These ideas come from the Congress members themselves or everyday citizens and advocacy groups.

Once the bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. Committees are composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs.

The bill is then put before that chamber to be voted on. If the bill passes one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting.

The bill goes to committee

Once a bill is introduced, it is sent to a committee. Both the House and the Senate have committees composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. The Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate refers the bill to the appropriate committee. In most cases, the referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian.

Bills may be referred to more than one committee, and parts of the bill may be sent to different committees. One of those committees will be designated the primary committee of jurisdiction and will likely take the lead on any action that may occur. Committees may also hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on record.

Subcommittees are organized under committees and have further specialization on a certain topic. Committees may refer bills to a subcommittee for study and hearings. The subcommittee may make changes to the bill and must vote to refer a bill back to the full committee. Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee, which then votes on the bill. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered "dead".

After the bill is reported, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, are adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill may write a dissenting opinion in the report. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.

The bill is reported

Once the bill has been approved by the committee, it is sent, or reported, to the House floor. At this stage, the bill is ready to be debated by the U.S. House of Representatives. Representatives will discuss the bill, explaining why they agree or disagree with it. A reading clerk will then read the bill section by section, and Representatives can recommend changes. Once all changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on.

There are three methods for voting on a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives: Viva Voce (voice vote), Division, and Recorded. In a voice vote, the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those that oppose it to say "no." In a Division vote, the Speaker of the House asks those Representatives who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then those who oppose the bill to do the same. In a Recorded vote, Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system, and can vote yes, no, or present if they don't want to vote on the bill. If a majority of Representatives vote yes, the bill passes in the U.S. House of Representatives and is then certified by the Clerk of the House before being delivered to the U.S. Senate.

When a bill reaches the U.S. Senate, it goes through many of the same steps as in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. Senators vote by voice, with supporters saying "yea" and opponents saying "nay." If a majority of Senators support the bill, it passes in the U.S. Senate and is ready to be sent to the President.

The bill is voted on

Once a bill has been introduced, assigned a number, and sent to the relevant committee, it is then time for the bill to be voted on.

In the US House of Representatives, there are three methods for voting on a bill: viva voce, division, and recorded. In the viva voce method, the Speaker of the House asks Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those who oppose it to say "no". In the division method, the Speaker of the House asks those who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then does the same for those who oppose it. In the recorded method, Representatives record their votes using an electronic voting system, selecting yes, no, or present if they don't want to vote on the bill. If a majority of Representatives vote yes, the bill passes in the House and is then sent to the US Senate.

In the Senate, the bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. Senators vote by voice, saying "yea" if they support the bill and "nay" if they oppose it. If a majority of Senators vote "yea", the bill passes in the Senate and is ready to go to the President.

If the bill passes in both the House and the Senate, it is then sent to the President. If either chamber does not pass the bill, it dies.

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